No shocker there. Pretty sure LPT printer cables were the most marked up item in CompUSA stores.

Every time I hear about these plans I think what a shame it was that Congress let the funding for the Superconducting Super Collider lapse. Imagine what could habe been done with such a large collider by now (after several updates).

I remember that dual 5" floppy disk system my dad would lug home from the office. Must have been at least 15lbs. I remember that crappy green screen built in and the keyboard that unhooked from the body with that curly q cable attaching it. Must have played hours and hours of qbert, pinball and some other classics on that thing :)

I curse the demise of the Superconducting Super Collider when I hear news stories like this. We could have made those discoveries decades before CERN and been leading the field with our big ring. Instead, Congress killed it for being over budget. Like that never happened to a large project. Guess Texas just didn't want to spend the juice to keep it going. Just imagine what could be done with today's magnets and that large a circle...

For sure this movie is an odd one and underrated by most. The characters are just great though, and the story is super ridiculous and entertaining. This movie also contains what I think is one of the most underrated scenes ever. When Joe Banks goes to purchase his luggage, the scene with the luggage salesman is just fantastic due to the quirky "actor" they got to do the salesman part!

I've worked with two companies for contracts in Iraq. The first was ITT and it paid around 130K a year with bonuses. The pay was low but they give plenty of time off (which you shouldn't take if you want to max out your $) and are a good company to start with as they will hold your hand in getting you from the states to the AOR. If you don't have a military background and haven't worked overseas before then they might be a good option. Generally everyone else will pay more than them, so do look around for other companies. My second contract was also for work in Iraq (nearly identical work in fact) but paid over 250K a year. It was also nice that no pay was tied to completion bonuses so I wasn't stuck with any loss of pay if I had decided to go elsewhere. Speaking of, feel free to network like crazy when you get in country, and also to jump ship for another contract if you want. If you are wanting to work in IT then you will almost certainly require a security clearance. A Secret can be had in as few as 2-3 months if it's just a simple records check and you don't have anything too sketchy in your past. If you want more info on clearances and what can keep you from getting one then http://www.clearancejobs.com/ is a good site (run by DICE now I think). Also note that while you are earning a good salary (30-38$ an hour) you are also possibly working seven days a week twelve hours a day. You should also check on the uplift that the country you are looking at will get you. Uplift is a percentage of your pay that is added on to the hours you work (capped at the first 40 hours if you work with ITT) and will make a big difference in your take home pay. The State Dept sets these rates and currently the rates for Iraq and Afghanistan are the same at 70% but this may go down if Iraq becomes more stable after the troop withdrawl. Speaking of specific locations, your company will probably not be able to tell you where they are going to place you because they may not know where the openings will be by the time you finish your training and go through CRC ( http://www.campatterbury.in.ng.mil/NationalDeploymentCenter/tabid/1101/Default.aspx ). They may not even be able to tell you what country. If you want to maximize your chances of getting to Iraq (the lesser of two battlefronts) then you may want to stick with companys that are hiring for jobs with the Dept of State and not the Dept of Defense. If you really want to come away with something after your contracts are over then you should look for a company that is willing to sponsor you for a Top Secret position. It will take much longer to get (possibly more than a year) and you won't want to quit your current job until you have it but it is a great way to seperate yourself from others in a tough job market that is still going to be tough in a year or two when you get tired of working in a war zone :)